China’s wood-based panel overcapacity tends to be obvious
2023-03-24
Wood-based panels are made of wood or other non wood plants as raw materials, separated into various unit materials through certain mechanical processing, and then glued with or without adhesives and other additives. The birth of wood-based panels marks the beginning of the modernization period of wood processing. The main products of the wood-based panel industry include plywood, fiberboard, particleboard, and other wood-based panels.
Supply: Stable increase
According to the “China Wood-based Panel Industry Development Report 2022” released in December 2022, the elimination of outdated production capacity in China’s wood-based panel industry has accelerated, and the industrial structure has been continuously optimized. By the end of 2021, there were over 13200 wood-based panel production enterprises nationwide, including nearly 190 large-scale production enterprises and enterprise groups, with a total annual production capacity of about 57 million cubic meters, accounting for 18.1% of the total production capacity. The number of enterprise groups with an annual production capacity of over 1 million cubic meters increased to 9.
——Production
From 2012 to 2021, China’s wood-based panel production overall showed a fluctuating upward trend, but the growth rate slowed down. In 2017, China’s wood-based panel production experienced negative growth for the first time, but China remains one of the largest countries in the world in terms of wood-based panel production. In 2021, the national production of wood-based panels was 352 million cubic meters, up 8.30% year-on-year.
——Export
From 2017 to 2022, China’s wood-based panel exports showed a fluctuating trend. In 2021, the export value of wood-based panels showed a strong rebound after two consecutive years of decline, hitting a new high in nearly 10 years. The export value reached 48.6 billion yuan, a significant increase of 34.5% year-on-year. China has become the cornerstone of a stable supply of wood-based panels in the world. In 2022, China’s wood-based panel exports reached about 48 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of about 1.3%.
——Supply structure
According to different raw materials and production processes, wood-based panels can be divided into plywood, fiberboard, particleboard, blockboard, etc. They are mainly used in the fields of furniture manufacturing, decorative veneer production, wood structural construction panels, and the manufacturing of panels for cars, ships, packaging boxes, containers, and other fields.
From the perspective of product structure of wood-based panel supply, plywood accounts for the main proportion of the wood-based panel market, followed by fiberboard. From 2013 to 2018, the proportion of plywood production showed an overall upward trend. In 2019, due to the impact of national optimization of production lines, the proportion of plywood production decreased significantly. In 2021, the production of plywood will account for 61%, fiberboard 18%, and particle board 11%
Demand: Particleboard products account for the majority of demand
——Consumption
From 2012 to 2020, the national consumption of wood-based panels showed a steady growth trend. In 2022, the consumption of wood-based panel products in China was about 320 million cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 7.5%. The growth in the consumption of particleboard products was the main factor driving the growth of total consumption.
——Import
From 2017 to 2022, China’s wood-based panel imports showed a fluctuating growth trend. In 2022, China’s total imports of wood-based panels reached 4.621 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 17.61%. The main imported products of wood-based panels in China are high-end particleboard products.
Current situation of supply and demand balance: overcapacity tends to be obvious
Since 2012, the country has continued to implement strict real estate regulation policies, which have deeply affected the wood-based panel industry. The production and sales rate has remained around 95%, and the problem of overcapacity has become apparent. In 2017, with the reform and transformation of the industry and the recovery of downstream demand, the production and sales rate of wood-based panels rose to 99%; From 2018 to 2021, China’s consumption gradually slowed down, and the production and sales rate of wood-based panels declined. In 2021, the production and sales rate of China’s wood-based panel industry will be about 90%.
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